Potions of Ari's Love

Still a Little Mixed Up (Or do I Daresay Alot)

Ari's POV
I sleepily sip my orange juice at the Ravenclaw table, watching Harry gently struggle with Lily.
She's not completely over the effects of the pixie dust, causing her hair to be bright pink and her actions a bit slurred, but Madam Pomfrey was nice enough to release her, for her sake and ours.
She's sort of side hugging Harry as he tries to spoon porridge in her mouth over at the Gryffindor table.
I used to have some of the same privileges  she does, her being Dumbledore's granddaughter and my used to having been her first in battle, but  when it happened, everything disappeared, her warmth, specialties, and Lily as a whole.
Nibbling on a roll, I sigh. My first class of the day is Defense Against the Dark Arts, so I'll have to face my father. Hopefully there won't be a big scene. It's only fall after all.
We still aren't talking, but something about Lily seems different. We haven't acted, but my subconscious tells me she's been looking back at me hopefully.
While my camaraderie luck is looking up, my daddy daughter trouble has only tumbled further, reminding me that I might want to leave now, considering it's a bit of a trek to his classroom, and the stampeding, clogging Slytherins and Gryffindors certainly aren't any help.
Grabbing my bag and standing up, I stride for the exit, coming close to the Slytherin table. Speeding up, my internal clock tells me the bell is seconds from ringing.
Only to be tugged to a stop. Irritated but relieved, I turn to face my roadblock, off to the left.
Squeaking, I become paralyzed. Draco's eyes persuade their way into mine as I grasp his hand holding mine, squeezing for means of a lifeline.
"Hey" he purposely flashes a blinding smile at me. "You haven't changed a bit." He tugs on my scarf playfully, causing my unstable body to tip forward, almost crashing into him. Except he supports my weight with his palm against my heart. If he didn't hear it's thud already, he could certainly feel it now, it crescendoing harder currently.
We haven't talked since the weeping willow. Why is he acting so? Not only do his surprise actions make me wary of the uncertainty of what will happen next, but looking at Draco renders me useless some of the time. I don't fling myself at him like some silly girls, but apparently I'm not immune to their similar feelings when he looks at them overempoweringly. The fear and unexpected element realllllly helps me out.
"I... Ari." I manage to squeak out, grimacing at the reminder. He chuckles at my feeble attempt.
So ready to leave. Any time at all now, my limbs will work again.
Leaning closer, his lips get dangerously close to my ear.
"I need to talk." His eyes change from a teasing to serious and doubting shade.
As he gets up to pull me into a corner and away from the others, the bell screams, chanting the start of chaos. Releasing everything, I hug myself tight , shutting off my mind and preparing for the likes of a tornado. Meaty boys rush past, girls scrambling after, pushing and pulling me like a pebble in a swift current.
Spinning around, I catch sight of Goyle lumbering directly for my path. His sheer force sends me drowning to the floor.
Feet race past me as my head slowly arcs to the ground. Hands slap empty air and feet stumble, mouths remark. Halfway to the bottom, a force tugs either side of me, singular than the other bodies, pushing up the effects of time ever so slowly.
To my left, I'm able to make out the rumpled head of Ron. Oh Ron.
To my right, the stronger, winning force, I can tell is Draco, from the flash of light hair and the bubble of space surrounding him.
The last of the herd crowds by, allowing the dust to settle, as the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Harry and Lily begin to make their way.
But neither Draco nor Ron is giving up this match of tug of war. Now really isn't the time for a sort of turf war, anyway.
While Draco is pulling us both, Ron refuses to let go of me, determined. Still taught, Lily and Harry walk by. But without the slightest indication of warning, Lily races out of Harry's loose hold and joins Ron's team, helping to even out the force better.
We stand there for several minutes, never changing position. The clomp of feet gives me hope.
"Oh my gosh, Draco." Pansy's piggish voice, identical to her other features, rings an annoyed and syrupy warning as she starts snogging him right then and there. I shudder as his hand revolts and the rest of us crash to the floor in a heap.
As soon as I'm up, I'm off as fast as possible, keeping an eye out for the caretaker. I haven't got much time to weave my way through the halls to DADA. Neither does Pansy, so she might consider taking a breather, but hopefully not right away, so I have enough time to get far enough away that he couldn't catch up.
As soon as I'm sure I'm far enough away to be safe, I slow down to a walk.
Quidditch practices have kept me in shape, so I'm not terribly winded.
A few turns away from class, the iconic trio plus the pretend 'princess' Lily catch up to my efforts of escape. When they spot me, Hermione freezes then digs her head in a book, Ron runs to envelop me in a bear hug, while Harry is busy keeping the tiara he gave Lily as a gift at the Yule ball out of her still pixie dust-high reach.
Ron: "I had no idea what happened, I was so worried, a bit depressed, hoping."
Me: "You needn't be any worried about me or us. You can always count on me."
I take his hands in mine and look him in the eyes, looking into hopeful eyes. Just as the last bell rings. Without a backward glance, Hermione dashes off, prompting me to leave Ron stranded in the middle of the dank hallway. I don't turn around to watch, but race the last stretch to DADA.
His eyes really are hoping for something. Hoping hard.
•. •. •.

Slipping in the door, I freeze when I hear it creak really loudly. Alerting my father to my tardiness.
"Minus fifteen points for Ravenclaw." Severus drawls. I couldn't believe it before but now I can. My own dad just ripped me in front of my peers. He never would have before, but now that I'm coming out and he's on the other side of this war, he'll do whatever it takes to drag me down. He's going to start treating me like them. That's not an entirely bad thing, I can't be spoiled (not like I ever was, just shielded), but still, he's my dad. He can't just... He's not supposed... Why... But still... Ugghhhhhh.
Stalking to my seat, I unsheathe my poker face. Two can play at his game.
Planning a way to outsmart his system, I realize I'm not paying attention. He could take away more house points, or worse. Setting aside my mental complete takeover blueprint, I pick up on his broadcast.
Snape: "As I aforementioned, we'll be studying how to combat the effects of complex, strongly projected potions first. Starting with the love potion. And obviously some of us in this very class have been taking some dosages."
The second those words slip out of his mouth, he stares directly at Lily, Harry, Ron, and me, as if peering through our 'act'.
That was the last straw. How dare he accuse us! I'll have to fight for my right with my wand. He's had much more practice and a wider range of spells, but if I can keep him distracted, I've got a shot at halting his treason. So, slowly and stealthily, I slip my wand out of my pockets inch by inch, staring right back at him to avert his attention from my spontaneous execution. As he turns his back to write the symptoms experienced while the love potion is in effect on the chalkboard, I slide out of my chair, into the aisle, and level the top of my wand with his upper back, so that when he turns around, he'll spot his mistaken misery daughter a few yards away with a wand held in the fatal position. But when he turns around, he has his own wand in the same stance. My surprise pushing my fear, I direct the spell, 'Silencio', in his direction, channeling my taken aback confidence. With anticipated precision, he scolds the finite incantatem spell, dousing my offense halfway there. Before the last syllable of another charm can leave my lips, his eyes narrow and he rattles off the impedimenta spell. The moment he does, I know I'm done for. A slight push directs me out of the way as Ron catches the slowing blow.
"I...ya... heild." Ron slugs off something that sounds like 'I'm your shield', and sags to the floor.
"No!" I screech, slumping to the floor. Cradling his head, rage shoots out my wand arm, striking Severus with everte statum, throwing him into the wall. Drawing all my attention back to Ron, I smooth part of his hair off of his forehead and clutch his arm.
Dad starts to get up, so I begin the dance of obsessing over the state of Ron and dueling Professor Snape. I go in circles dealing with the two for who knows how long.
"Imperio!" He yells.
Wait. Imperio? He... he would use an Unforgivable Curse on me. He thinks it's okay because I'm his daughter and he has what he thinks are my bests interests at heart. As the curse confines me, my limbs surrender, and a hush falls over the room. Everyone is speechless and too afraid to report it. I know it's useless to fight, but I don't even have the will to try anymore. And I don't think it has anything to do with the spell.
"I offer my deepest apologies, I am wrong in every way. Please continue." The forced, untruthful words are awkward in my mouth. Nevertheless, they come out, following with my stiff, precisioned body dumping Ron in his chair and sit rigged back in my own. Still in control, I poise my quill and, neatly, painstakingly, copy the board word for word. By the time the bell rings, my hand is sore but still reciting what it's supposed to. I slip my notes on the counterattack to a love potion and shrug out of the door.
As soon as I'm a few yards away from the door, my limbs regain consciousness, and I almost fall over with the sudden control and realization that the spell has dissipated. The moment I'm around the corner I catch up to Ron (whose spell was removed after I was placed under) and the rest of the gang, who bolted as soon as they could from back there.
Clutching his arm, I wonder, what does this show of power mean for everyone? I shudder as I think about the possibilities while weaving my way through the throng of students to my next period.
Snape's POV
She's being coming confident, growing stronger. Spells will only do so much once her faith grows into a hardened will. She... she might not be the girl I need to her to be. Another young woman gone.
But that's all the more reason to try harder. And once it's complete, she'll be one less thing to worry about. She may even join me and be completely on my, our, side, forgetting about those other people I don't need. We don't need. She's still the little girl who sat in my lap somewhere in their. I just have to find her and show her that her, 'changes' are terrible additions. I know I can because she is Ari Snape.